


Living on Earth

by Risitka



Series: It's Zim's life, right? [2]
Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Gaming, High School, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Protective Tallest, Stalking, ZADE, ZADF, Zim just wants to relax, creepy keef, possesive tallest, taser use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:54:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27824089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Risitka/pseuds/Risitka
Summary: Zim gets to Earth and gets to deal with calls from the Tallest, a stalker, a big-headed boy, and the new-found fun in gaming.
Relationships: Dib/Zim (Invader Zim), The Almighty Tallest/Zim
Series: It's Zim's life, right? [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2009224
Comments: 20
Kudos: 102





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Dib is sixteen, nearing seventeen to start this out

“Okay Gir! Our house is set up, we have disguises, and tomorrow I will begin going to that School place. Tonight we can just settle in and relax.” Zim grinned and sat on the couch happily. It had been a long trip, but so far Earth didn’t seem too bad. “I’ll check in with Red and Purple once I’ve-“

**“Incoming call.”**

“Put it through.” Zim sighed as the Tallest appeared on screen.

“Zim! We got the notification that your base has been set up!”

“Everything’s going well right?”

“Yes My Tallest.” Zim had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. “I haven’t been here long enough to be able to report on anything worthwhile.”

“It’s fine Zim.”

“Yeah, we just wanted to make sure you were doing well.”

“We miss you.”

“We know you’ll do great though!”

“Of course! Zim is amazing!” Zim grinned at the screen.

“You are, and we miss having you here!”

“We’ll call you again later Zim!” The screen went dark and Zim groaned.

“You see Gir? They don’t even have a reason to call. They’re just so obsessive. It’s exhausting.” He laid on the couch dramatically.

“AW! They love yoo!” Gir squealed and turned on the TV. Zim didn’t even try to respond and turned to watch whatever was showing with a frown.

* * *

The next day proved to be more difficult than anticipated and Zim was chased out of the school, eventually evading his classmate and calling Gir to pick him up. Once home he flopped down on the couch with a frown.

“A human saw through my disguise Gir! I need to find a way to stop his attacks…” He heard a shout and went to look out the window. Dib was standing out there and Zim groaned, deciding to ignore him for now.

“The Dib-human will leave me alone eventually, right?” He spoke to himself hopefully. After three weeks he realized he was wrong. On Saturday Dib was outside his house again, trying to get in. Zim checked to make sure Keef wasn’t around as well before glancing at Gir.

“Gir!”

“Yeah?”

“I am going to talk to this human. Be ready to attack if I need you!”

“Okay!” Gir turned back to the TV and Zim opened the door, stepping just outside.

“What do you want now?”

“I’m going to capture you and-!”

“Why?! What did Zim do to you?!” Zim shouted, making Dib pause.

“What do you mean why? You’re an alien! You’re here to take over the planet!”

“I never said that.”

“I know you’re an alien Zim!”

“Good for you.” Zim crossed his arms, not wanting to fight the whole time he was here. “But I never said I was here to take over this stupid planet.”

“… What? Why are you here then?”

“That depends on who you ask.” Zim’s irritation faded and he sighed. “Can you not attack me long enough to just… talk?”

“Why should I trust you!?”

“Well only one of us has attacked the other so far.” He saw movement down the street and cringed when he recognized it. “Are you going to or not? I’m not staying out here much longer.” Dib turned to look behind him to see Keef running up the street towards them.

“What’s wrong? Don’t have use for him anymore?” Dib crossed his arms and glared at Zim who, in turn, scowled.

“Whatever. Stop chasing me Dib-stink.” He turned and went back inside, slamming the door behind him. He heard Keef calling for him and shuddered. That kid was almost more obsessive than the Tallest. The main difference was that Keef was creepy about it, while the Tallest were possessive.

* * *

The next day Zim had tried to take a walk and see more of where he was now living. However, Keef had found him at the park, grabbing his arm and hugging him tightly. When Zim pushed him off Keef had just grinned and got back up to reach for him again.

“Leave Zim alone!”

“Come on Zim! We’re best friends right? Maybe we could even-“ Keef didn’t get to finish his thought as Zim ran away and he began the chase. Zim turned a corner, risking a glance behind him to see Keef still following him. Zim was faster, but Keef had longer legs and knew the area so Zim couldn’t lose him. Zim panicked and turned to the only other house he recognized: Dib’s. He skidded to the door and pounded on it quickly. He looked back as Keef got to the yard just as the door opened. Zim didn’t even bother saying anything before jumping inside and pushing the door closed. Once it was locked he looked over to see Dib’s sister.

“Um… Hello… Gaz?” He guessed at her name and she nodded once.

“What do you want?” There was a knock at the door and Zim tensed.

“Don’t let him in.” He paused as she turned back to the door. “Please?”

“Whatever.” Gaz shrugged and pushed past him to go sit on the couch. Zim relaxed slightly and went to sit next to her. He glanced over at the game she was playing curiously.

“What is that?”

“Zombie Pig 2.”

“… Which is?”

“Are you serious? It’s a video game.”

“What’s a video game?” He questioned and Gaz paused her game to stare at him.

“You don’t have games where you’re from?”

“Not like that. What’s its purpose? Does it train you for pig attacks?”

“What? No! Video games are fun. They’re entertainment.” She glanced between Zim and her game before closing the system and getting up to turn on the TV. She flopped back down and handed Zim a controller. “Here. I’ll show you. This one has multiplayer so we’ll be able to play together.”

* * *

Zim was just getting the hang of the controls when the front door opened and Dib walked in. Zim had glanced over and was putting his controller down when he saw Keef walk in as well.

“Hey Gaz! Keef was just standing outside-!” Dib froze when he saw Zim, anger overtaking his features. Before he could say anything though Keef had gone over to sit directly next to the alien and wrapped an arm around him. Zim froze and tensed up as Keef leaned against him.

“Hey Zim. I was waiting for you.” He smiled, tightening his grip when Zim tried to lean away.

“What’s going on Gaz? Why is Zim here?” Dib angrily whispered to Gaz, but she just pushed him away and stood to glare at Keef.

“Get out.” She growled. Keef looked up at her with a smile.

“Okay. Sorry for bothering you guys. Zim and I will-“ Gaz grabbed him and yanked him off Zim. She pushed him to the door.

“I said get out.” She clenched her fists, ready to force him outside. Keef’s smile fell and he hastily exited. Gaz turned back and groaned when she saw Dib standing over Zim with a glare.

“What do you think you’re doing at my house Zim?! What evil plan do you have?!” Dib leaned close and Zim sunk further into the couch, still unsettled by Keef. He blinked when Dib was suddenly pulled back.

“Will you quit it Dib?! He was just trying to get away from Keef! And after seeing that I get why.” She flopped back next to Zim and handed his controller back. “Just ignore Dib.” Zim glanced back at a fuming Dib and set the controller back down.

“I should go…” He headed to the door, stepping past Dib quickly.

“Wait.” Gaz fixed her brother with a glare. “Keef might still be out there. Dib will walk you home.”

“What?! Like hell I will! Zim’s an alien! I’m not going to help him!”

“Zim will be fine.” He opened the door and stepped out, flinching when Keef grinned from where he was sitting on the sidewalk. He heard a yell behind him and then Dib was there next to him with a scowl.

“Let’s get this over with.” He led the way and Zim followed closely to avoid Keef. He quickened his pace to keep up with the taller human and hoped Keef wouldn’t follow them.


	2. Chapter 2

Dib stomped straight up to Zim’s door without glancing back and flung it open. He only looked back when Zim didn’t walk past him. He scanned the area quickly and saw Zim being pulled backwards, a hand over his mouth. Dib grumbled and ran over to get him, but stopped quickly when he noticed what was stopping Zim from attacking. Keef was holding a taser to his side. Dib paused, mentally debating what to do. If he tried to attack Keef Zim would get tased. But if the alien was unconscious he’d be easier to expose. If he did nothing who knew what Keef would do. Dib shrugged and leapt at Keef, punching him in the face. Keef fell back hard and Dib grabbed the now twitching alien and carried him into his base. He dropped Zim onto the couch and ran a hand through his hair as he sat on the floor.

“What did you do to Keef?”

“Wha?” Zim groaned and turned to look at Dib. “I did nothing to him.”

“Then what the hell was that?!”

“… The only thing Zim has done is try and blend in. To do that I tried befriending Keef. He seemed amiable at the time, but…” Zim sighed and pushed himself up as Gir ran into the room and jumped onto Dib. “He hasn’t left me alone since then. Gir get off the human.”

“Okie Master!” The little robot jumped up onto the couch instead. “Want waffles!?”

“Sure Gir. Go make some.”

“YAY!” He ran out of the room and Dib chuckled.

“He’s pretty energetic.” Dib leaned back with a sigh. “You wanted to talk yesterday. I might as well listen since I’m here now.”

“Oh? Will you stop attacking Zim?”

“Depends.”

“Right…”

“So?”

“I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“How about why you’re here? And you might as well take off that disguise. It’s not like it fools me anyway.”

“I’m not here to take over your planet.” He took off his contacts and wig, wincing when the movement irritated his side.

**“Incoming call.”**

“Oh no… Dib get out! Stay in the kitchen or leave right now!”

“What the hell? Why should I?”

“GIR! The Dib wants to help make the waffles!”

“YAY!” Gir ran over and dragged Dib to the kitchen. “Come on Mary!”

“Put the call through.” He sat up straight, wincing again just as the Tallest appeared on screen.

“Zim! How are you?”

“Wait… Did you just wince? Are you hurt?!”

“What happened?!”

“Do we need to come get you?!”

“No My Tallest! Zim is fine.” Zim’s antennae lowered slightly.

“Then why’d you wince?”

“I…”

“Lift your shirt.”

“What?” Zim’s antennae flattened against his head.

“Take your shirt off Zim. Let us see.”

“But-“

“Now Zim.” There was a pause as Zim hesitated before slowly pulling his shirt off, glancing over to see Dib peeking out from the kitchen. He blushed and looked back at the screen. Red and Purple did not look happy.

“Were you attacked Zim?”

“Um… Not really.”

“You’re injured Zim. Maybe you should return.”

“No! Zim can do his mission! I was not attacked! This was accidental. A human didn’t see me and knocked me over. That’s all.”

“Didn’t see you? The human is dead now, right?”

“… Yes. I took care of it.” Zim turned slightly, vividly aware of Dib watching him. Red and Purple glanced at each other before nodding and smiling at Zim.

“Okay Zim. How is your mission going? The planet should be simple for our Mighty Zim to take over.”

“We miss you Zim. Hurry up for us okay?”

“Yes My Tallest. Zim will be victorious.” He mumbled out.

“Let us know if you need anything!”

“Bye Zim!” The screen went dark and Zim hastily pulled his shirt on before being roughly grabbed and pushed onto the couch.

“What the hell was that?! So you are here to take over Earth! Your friends-“

“Leaders…”

“What?”

“Those were the Tallest. My leaders.” Zim squirmed under Dib’s arm. Dib glared and pushed down harder.

“Even better. So how is your mission going alien scum? What plan do you have for Earth since you lied about not invading?!”

“Let go of me!”

“No! In fact…” He grinned and pulled out the cuffs he had threatened him with before. “Now seems like a great time to expose you.”

“Get off!” Zim extended his pak legs and shoved Dib off as he hooked onto the ceiling. “Zim didn’t lie! I said it depended on who you asked!”

“Bullshit!”

“Computer! Remove the Dib!” Wires came down and unceremoniously threw Dib outside. Zim lowered himself down with a sigh before going to check on the mess Gir was making.

* * *

Dib glared at Zim throughout class the next day, tossing the occasional insult or threat his way. By the time lunch rolled around Zim was starting to get anxious. He managed to get to the cafeteria well before Dib and grabbed a tray of whatever inedible slop was being served. He sat down at an empty table in a corner and kept glancing around until he saw Dib enter the cafeteria. He kept an eye on the human, hoping he wouldn’t head over. A tray slammed down across from him and he jumped, twisting around to stare at his companion in shock.

“Gaz?” She jabbed a thumb behind her and Zim looked over to where a frowning Keef was setting down his tray.

“Figured you wouldn’t want creepo sitting with you.”

“Oh.” Relief washed over the alien and he attempted a smile. “Thank you.” Gaz grunted and pulled out her game slave.

“Yeah. Did you want to come over after school? Continue our game?”

“I… don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why?” She opened one eye to look at him.

“Dib would get upset again.”

“That’s his problem. I can invite whoever I want over. So?”

“… Zim would like to… But I don’t want attacked again either.”

“Again? He was just supposed to walk you home last night!” She scowled, angrily pressing buttons harder. “That idiot.” The bell rang and they both stood. “He won’t do anything with me there, but it’s up to you.”

* * *

After school Zim waited outside, nervously tapping his foot. He had decided to accept Gaz’s offer and hoped there wouldn’t be a problem this time around. She was scary enough to keep Keef away and even Dib would listen to her on occasion. He didn’t know why she was being nice to him, especially since it didn’t seem like she wanted anything from him. It was a nice change. He shook himself out of his thoughts when he saw her exit the school and started to walk over. He only managed two steps before seeing Dib walking next to her. Dib noticed him and shot a glare his way before he could back up or leave and all of Zim’s confidence in his decision suddenly left. He just backed up out of the way and looked down instead, glancing back up when his arm was grabbed.

“Come on.” Gaz began to pull Zim along, much to Dib’s growing anger. Zim thought about pulling away, her grip wasn’t that strong, but he did want to go. So instead he just tried to ignore Dib fuming behind them.

Once inside the Membrane household Gaz pushed Zim onto the couch and headed to the kitchen to grab some snacks. Dib stayed watching Zim before groaning and flopping onto the other end of the couch.

“Why are you doing this? Just to torture me? Or are you just trying to make it harder for me to expose you by befriending my sister?”

“Zim was invited…” He moved further away from Dib, pulling his legs up to his chest. Dib glanced over and frowned, but before he could say anything Gaz yelled from the kitchen.

“Hey Zim! Can you even eat human food?”

“… Zim can try. But no stinky meats or beans!” He made a disgusted face and Dib chuckled. Zim looked over with wide eyes. If he wasn’t wearing the wig his antennae would’ve sprung forward as well. Dib actually smiled.

“Sorry, it’s kind of funny that you can’t eat a lot of the food here.” He paused and looked away. “Well, I guess it would suck actually, but your reaction was kind of funny.”

“Oh… Yes. Zim is hilarious!” He grinned when Dib rolled his eyes.

“Looks like you two can get along.” Gaz placed herself in between the two, setting a few bags of chips on the table in front of them. She tossed a soda at Dib and then handed one to Zim. “Here.”

“What is this?”

“Soda. A sugary drink.”

“Sugary?” Zim’s eyes widened again and he quickly opened it to taste. “Oh! This is good!” He chugged it. “Another!” That earned a laugh from both siblings and Dib tossed his to Zim.

“Guess sugar is good for the alien.” Dib laughed and Zim frowned before turning to focus on the game.

“Is sugar easy to obtain here?”

“Well yeah. It’s in almost everything. Which sucks cuz it’s not exactly good for-“

“Shut up Dib. We’re playing a game.”

“What?! He asked!” He huffed but calmed down at Gaz’s smirk, settling in to watch them play. He enjoyed sitting there with them. Gaz had gotten a little nicer since he had started high school, but he was still surprised she had let Zim play a game with her. Not just because Zim was an alien either. He glanced over when Zim shrieked as his character ran away from a zombie. He had to admit, Zim really didn’t seem to be trying to take over the planet. Oddly enough he wanted to believe it, but the conversation Zim had with his leaders stuck in his mind. He turned back to the TV, mulling it over as he watched Gaz lead Zim through whatever quest they were on.


	3. Chapter 3

It was getting dark by the time they stopped playing. Gaz saved it and turned off the TV as Zim stood up to leave. Gaz pushed Dib off the couch and pointed to the door.

“Go walk him home.”

“Zim is fine. No need for the Dib.”

“Yeah? And what if your stalker is out there again?”

“It’s dark enough out for Zim to be fine.”

“That makes no sense.”

“I don’t really mind that much Zim. Let’s go.” Dib stretched, but Zim shook his head.

“I can use the rooftops at night.”

“The rooftops?”

“Oh… You have those weird spider leg things.” Dib thought back to seeing Zim attached to the ceiling yesterday.

“My pak legs! Not weird spider things!”

“Whatever.” Gaz waved off the impending argument and headed upstairs. “Get Dib’s number so you can call if something happens.”

“Number?” Zim turned to Dib curiously. “Are you part of a series?”

“Phone number space-boy. Which is something I’m guessing you don’t have.” Dib pulled out his cell and held it out. “We can call, text, use the internet, and play games on them. Super useful.”

“Hmmm… Perhaps Zim should make one.”

“You can just buy them. But you need to get a service plan to make calls or anything.”

“Eh. I’ll figure out how to get this service without that.” He walked past Dib and opened the door to peek out, making sure the coast was clear, before disappearing into the night.

* * *

Zim didn’t show up to school for the rest of the week. The only thing stopping Gaz and Dib from being too worried was that Keef was still showing up to classes. Dib had already argued with Gaz about not walking Zim home, especially since Zim couldn’t call them. By Friday they were both nervous, and the heavy rain outside wasn’t helping their moods.

“Where is that idiot?” Gaz growled out, angrily stabbing the mystery meat on her tray.

“All we know is that he’s not here, or with Keef.”

“That creep could’ve tied him up somewhere.”

“Nah, he asked me where Zim was.” Dib frowned and pulled out his phone when it buzzed.

“Who the hell is texting _you_?”

“Gee thanks Gaz.” He rolled his eyes and opened the message, not recognizing the number. “What the?”

_“DIB-STINK! I HAVE FINISHED MAKING THE CELLY PHONE!”_

“Well?”

“Uh… I think Zim has a phone now.” Dib showed her the message and she raised a brow.

“That definitely sounds like him. Good thing you gave him your number then, huh?”

“Yeah… I didn’t.”

_“Zim? How’d you get my number?”_

_“I HAVE MY WAYS HUMAN”_

“Okay... He only uses Caps and this conversation is pointless. At least we know why he’s been gone.” Dib was about to put his phone away when it buzzed again.

_“Zim has made an unpleasant discovery about your planet”_

_“And what’s that?”_ This time there was no immediate response and Dib frowned before hearing Gaz’s phone go off. She checked her message quickly before shaking her head.

“Hey dipshit, are you done being an asshole to him?”

“Oh come on Gaz!”

“You can be his enemy if he ever actually does anything, but seriously Dib? All he’s done so far is come to school, play games with me, and get stalked.”

“You didn’t overhear his conversation with his leaders Gaz! He was sent here to take Earth over!”

“But he’s not. Look, I’m busy tonight and Zim’s apparently allergic to the rain.” She glared when Dib began to laugh. “If you use this against him I will end you.” Dib held up his hands in surrender.

“Fine. What does he want then?” The bell rang and they both stood.

“Take him an umbrella and maybe something to cheer him up. If it’s not raining tomorrow he can come over for more games.” She stalked off and Dib rolled his eyes again.

“Well someone forgot about our trip with Dad this weekend.”

* * *

Dib stopped by a corner store after school and bought two umbrellas so that he could use one too. He glanced around for some kind of treat with a frown. Figuring just the umbrella should be enough he turned to go pay when he saw the coffee machine. He gratefully made one up for himself before grabbing a large cup to fill with hot chocolate for Zim with a smile. He grabbed a microwave burrito too just in case before leaving.

He kicked Zim’s door once there, struggling to hold everything and keep his umbrella above him. His coat was soaked and he didn’t want the rest of him to be as well. The door slowly opened and Zim peeked out in his disguise. He didn’t fully open the door and frowned at Dib.

“What do you want?”

“Will you just let me in?”

“No.” He started to close the door when Dib kicked it open and pushed his way inside, knocking Zim over. He set the stuff down and spun around, sending water droplets flying around. Zim yelped and tried to brush off the water as his skin burned.

“Shit.” Feeling guilty Dib carefully took off his coat and set it and his umbrella in a corner before grabbing a blanket from the couch and tossing it at Zim. “Sorry. I wasn’t trying hurt you.”

“Well that’s a first.” Zim grumbled and pulled off his disguise to glare at Dib. “Why are you here?”

“Gaz sent me. I brought you an umbrella. It keeps the rain off. Well, it does if there’s no wind at least.” He sighed. “I didn’t mean to get you wet Zim. I didn’t know how badly it would affect you.” He grabbed the hot chocolate and held it out. “I got you this.”

“… What is it?” Zim grabbed it, antennae flicking forward in interest at the sweet scent.

“Hot chocolate. It’s sweet and warm. Perfect for cold or wet days.” He stood awkwardly as Zim tasted it. His antennae sprung up and his eyes widened as he smiled.

“This is good!”

“I’m glad… I got a burrito too, but it has meat so I guess you can’t have that.” He shifted again and glanced out the window as lightning flashed across the sky. Zim watched him carefully before going to sit down, tossing the blanket at Dib.

“You can sit down Dib-stink. Just dry off first.” Dib tried to dry his hair and sat down.

“So… Can I ask a question?” He grabbed his coffee and watched Zim carefully.

“You just did, but go ahead.”

“Why do you say you’re not here to take over but your leaders say you are?” He blurted out. Zim frowned and pulled a different blanket onto his shoulders.

“I-“

“HI MARY!” Gir bounded in, landing in Dib’s lap with a grin.

“Who’s Mary?”

“You are Dib. I don’t know why he thinks that’s your name.”

“You have a big head Mary!” Gir grabbed Dib’s face and squished his cheeks together.

“Gir. Get down.”

“Okie!” He jumped on the floor and Zim glanced at Dib.

“That… burrito? If you don’t want it you could give it to him.”

“He needs to eat?”

“Technically no. But he does anyway.” Dib shrugged and tossed the cold burrito at the robot, watching him squeal and run out of the room as he bit into it, wrapper and all.

“Gross.” He turned back to Zim. “So what were you going to say?” Zim sighed and set his empty cup down.

“I am technically on a mission to take over your planet, but I don’t really care about it. The Tallest… I don’t think they knew there was a planet here originally. They were going to send a few Irkens out here as a banishment or to just die in space. I argued with them to get a mission and they gave me this planet once they found it.”

“What about the others then? And does that mean you’re banished?” Dib was confused, more so when Zim laughed dryly.

“The three others were thrown out the airlock. And no… Zim is not banished. The Tallest want me back. They didn’t want to give me a mission at all, even though I had done their stupid requirements.” He scowled and pulled the blanket tighter around him. “I needed to get away from them Dib. They’re so clingy and I couldn’t take it anymore.” He sighed. “But of course the planet I end up on has someone find me out and try to capture me, and have someone stalking me! I just wanted to be left alone for a while!”

“… Well… I won’t capture you then.” Dib leaned back with a sigh. “It’s not good for me to be trying to expose you anyway. Everyone has always called me crazy, but it was getting better before I started going after you. It’ll be better for the both of us this way.” He looked over to see Zim watching him hopefully. “Um… So what’re you gonna do when you want to leave then?”

“Eh… I’ll just return and tell the Tallest that Earth isn’t worth it.”

“And they’ll believe you?”

“Maybe. If they don’t it won’t matter too much. I can just say I missed them and they’ll forget about it anyway.”

“Seriously? They want you back that badly? Why?” Dib regretted asking as Zim’s antennae suddenly flattened and his eyes narrowed.

“Zim will not talk about that.”

“Okay, sorry. Not a good topic.” He quieted for a bit, chewing on his lip. “So… Gaz wanted to invite you over tomorrow, but we’re going out of town for the weekend with our Dad. He’s been trying to make time for us more often lately and we actually get a trip once a month now.”

“Did he not have time before?”

“Well… He used to be too busy with work. It was… actually kind of hurtful that we barely ever saw him before. We used to only get a yearly dinner with him.” Dib frowned and sighed.

“Oh…”

“I’m guessing your parents made time for you?”

“Irkens don’t have parents…”

“What?”

“Irkens are cloned. We’re grown in tubes, hatched, activated with a pak, and sent off to download whatever information we need before going to whatever training we get assigned.”

“Geez… I suddenly feel better about my life.”

“It’s efficient.”

“Whatever. Anyway… Since Gaz and I will be gone for the weekend you should probably be careful about going out. School can’t distract Keef after all… But… I mean I could always ask my Dad if you could come with us too.”

“Zim does not want to interfere in your parent bonding trip. I’ll be fine here.”

“You sure? It’s not interfering if I invite you.”

“… Maybe some other time Dib-stink. Zim will be careful.”

“Right… I’ll be going then.” He went and put his coat back on and grabbed his umbrella. He stood awkwardly at the door for a moment. “You can call or text me if something happens, okay?” Zim nodded as Dib left.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day Zim finished his project and wrapped it up nicely before going to the window, waiting to see if Keef was going to be there. He smirked when the ginger showed up to watch the house. Pulling on his disguise he opened the door and smiled.

“Hello Keef.”

“Zim.” Keef grinned and headed up the path. “I’ve missed you Zim.”

“Come in Keef. I have a present for you.”

“Really? For me?” Keef darted inside, grabbing Zim’s hand to pull him in as well. “That’s so sweet Zim, but all I want is you.” He pulled Zim into a hug, running his hands down Zim’s sides. Zim tensed and tried to pull away, but Keef held him tighter. “I’m not letting you go Zim.”

“Let me give you the gift!”

“Don’t need it.” He gripped Zim’s hips tighter and Zim switched tactics.

“Please? I feel bad for pushing such a good friend away for so long... Zim made it specially for you.” He pouted, looking up at the ginger. Keef leaned down to kiss Zim’s neck before letting him go.

“I can’t say no to that. Let’s see it so we can get closer…” He smiled and Zim stepped back quickly, resisting the urge to wipe the spot on his neck and instead grabbing the gift box and shoving it at Keef. Keef smiled and opened it as Zim stood back, a smile spreading across his face as the device activated, latching onto Keef’s face to ‘fix’ his eyes. Zim guided Keef to the window so that he was facing outside as the device fell off. He waited a moment before Keef shook his head and stared outside in confusion before running out the door after a squirrel while calling out Zim’s name. Zim just grinned and gathered up the remains of his invention to dispose of happily.

* * *

On Monday Zim was the most relaxed he’d been since arriving on Earth. He smiled at Dib during their first class before sitting down to lazily take notes. By the time lunch rolled around Dib was suspicious, even more so when he sat down next to Gaz and Zim and his sister turned to Zim.

“So… I heard Keef’s in the crazy house.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Rumor has it that he tried to screw a squirrel or something.” Both siblings noticed Zim’s repulsive shudder.

“Care to share Zim?”

“Zim knows nothing of these squirrels.”

“But you do about Keef.” Gaz leaned over the table to smirk at Zim. “People say he kept calling the squirrel by _your_ name. Almost like he thought it _was you_.” She chuckled darkly when Zim avoided her gaze. “I guess he just finally snapped huh? Serves him right.” Zim started to smile when Dib groaned.

“What did you do Zim?”

“Zim did nothing!”

“Yeah Dib, weren’t you listening? Keef just snapped.” Gaz sat back innocently and pulled out her game slave. Dib glared at her before turning back to Zim.

“Don’t lie to me Zim. What did you do to him?” Zim shifted uneasily under Dib’s glare.

“Eh… Zim is not admitting anything, but… It is possible… that there was a device made that somehow got to Keef and changed his eyes where… he would think the next living thing he saw was Zim.” He finished in a rush.

“… You _what_?”

“Zim admits nothing!”

“You need to fix this.”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” Zim jumped up and stomped out of the cafeteria as the bell rang. He proceeded to ignore Dib the rest of the day until he was cornered walking home.

“I get that Keef was-“

“No you don’t.” Zim glared up at Dib. “Keef wasn’t stalking you. Understand this Dib-thing: whatever Keef tried to do to the squirrel is what he was going to do to Zim. I was not going to just wait for him to grab me again.” He crossed his arms angrily. Dib sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“I know that Zim…” He started quietly. “But… Look I’m not saying you have to fix him right away. Just don’t leave him like that. The crazy house is… Well it really sucks. He won’t be let out for a while after you fix him anyway. Okay?”

“… Has the Dib been to the crazy house?”

“Well yeah. I told you people always thought I was crazy. I got sent there once after messing with my Dad’s stuff and started seeing some crazy things. If he hadn’t found out that I had messed around in his lab I probably wouldn’t even be here right now.” Dib shoved his hands in his pockets and stepped back so Zim could leave. Zim frowned and tapped a foot while he thought.

“I guess I can reverse the device… in a few months. Zim would have to build a new one after all.”

“Thanks…” Dib turned to leave. “Want to come over? Gaz won’t be home, but I could tell you about my paranormal research or something.”

“Zim would like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end of this installment.  
> Stay tuned for the next one!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are appreciated


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